The subject matter disclosed herein relates to power generation, and more particularly, to operating a power generation system independent of a power grid.
In power generation systems, turbines, such as gas turbines or steam turbines, are used with generators to provide power to one or more loads via a power grid. The power grid may operate at a certain frequency, phase, or amplitude. The turbine controls instrumentation synchronizes a power output of the generator with certain characteristics of the power grid. For example, the turbine controls system may adjust fuel usage or other aspects of the turbine to adjust a speed at which a turbine shaft rotates to control the frequency and/or phase of the voltage output from the generator. As such, the turbine may synchronize the voltage output by the generator with the phase and the frequency of the voltage present on the power grid.
In some cases, the turbine may adjust the speed of its shaft using complicated hardware, such as a gearbox, to synchronize the output of the generator with the grid. By using the gearbox, however, the turbine may operate at less efficient speeds to enable the generator to match the grid frequency. For the foregoing reasons, it may be desirable to improve turbine operation in power grids.